Hard News: There is History
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Just in. All 10 swine flu tests back from Australia. All positive.
Ahh, now I get your tweet, I thought you were talking about Australia tests of Australians, but you mean of Kiwis. I'm not less sympathetic, but I'll confess my sensitivities are about family, some of whom work in high-density tourist facilities in Sydney.
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Meanwhile... marvel at the wonder that is Paul Henry's audition for what was then the NZBC:
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The good news, is that they are all still alive.
Not just alive, but mostly fully recovered.
I'm actually slightly more worried about being in Christchurch, seeing as it took so long for the passengers from that plane who came here to be tracked down. The UC students and professors on the flight decided to stay home anyway, but...
On the other hand, seeing as this strain seems to be so mild, it might be better to get it now than a later, possibly more virulent strain.
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On the other hand, seeing as this strain seems to be so mild, it might be better to get it now than a later, possibly more virulent strain.
Let's have swine flu parties.
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Or at least be more sensitive to online nuance.. :)
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enjoyed the Daily Show tonight
And wasn't the French Finance Minister great? Even slipped a joke by the host.
And, if only everything was reported in French we wouldn't worry so much. Hell, even their Finance Minister is sexy with that sexy accent,as my man commented just as I was thinking same.:)
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Smartsexy!
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Smartsexy!Smartsexy!
Yep, that's the next holiday.Brushing up on my French now, never too early. Ou'est mon bicyclette?I mean ,first the Ballerina.....Wasn't she French also?
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Ahhhh... so that's what a douchebag is!
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Ahhhh... so that's what a douchebag is!
Slightly off-topic, but he does have 'local' competiton
"owning commuter ferry operator Fullers Ferries, the bus company Howick & Eastern, both operating in Auckland, and 25% of Wellington bus operator Mana Coach Services"
Isn't public transport meant to be the attractive alternative?
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thanks for that link Lyndon
the character notation looks like
"12 Monkeys'" typing
(and not a sonnet in sight!)but being an ambience chaser from way back
this is great stuff - haunting, oddly oriental,
sinister perhaps (is DNA "handed"?)
disquieting? nothing ENO can't quell...have you tried the Ramone Genome
GABBAGABBAGABBA....or the more colourful frequencies
of the RGBGs version of YMCKyrs
Resonancy Boy -
Ahhhh... so that's what a douchebag is!
Despite having read The World According to Garp I still only have a vague idea about what a DB is in real life.
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Neither did I. Until today.
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No, don't be daft! Lets just verbatim quote the UTTERLY UNINFORMED OPINION OF SOME RANDOM MOUTH WHO HAPPENED TO BE ON THE PLANE!
You would have enjoyed the Daily Show tonight. Jason Jones reporting from the "Center for stuff I heard from some guy".
What really got my goat about that particular article was the strong implication that if they had done what this guy suggested (which if I recall correctly was to dose all the passengers with Tamiflu at the arrivals gate, and then wave them off to their destinations), then this thing could have been nipped in the bud, and wouldn't have 'got loose' in NZ.
But since they didn't....OMG! It's loose! It can't be contained!
His opinion was quoted verbatim as if he knew what he was talking about - as if he was the uber-virologist from whom all viral wisdom springs. No counter-statements in the article, just his quotes, and Tamiflu was being discussed (well, blanket statements from him) as if it was some kind of magic cure-all.
But this guy was just some random.
So, would it have been a viable approach, or not?
Well, I've just done 5 minutes of research on wikipedia. I'll stress at this point that I know next to nothing about biology, viruses or whatever, so I may be grabbing the wrong end of the stick (but I've already done more research than whoever the reporters on that story were...)
Here's the article on Tamiflu. Very long and technical, but the first line says it's an antiviral. So what does an antiviral do?
Well, click through the link in the same article and here we go:
antiviral drugs do not kill the virus, they only stall their development.
Do. Not. Kill.
So, if an individual is taking Tamiflu, the drug will suppress replication of the flu virus in their system, but it won't kill it.
That implies to me that the infected individual can still infect others by the normal transmission methods, because the virus is still there (just in smaller quantities). Sure, it'll be harder for them to leave enough trace material on doorknobs, taps, etc to infect others, but still pretty good odds.
So Mr/Ms Infected-but-treated-with-tamiflu can still infect others, who aren't being dosed.
So dosing all the passengers up with Tamiflu, and then waving them off to their homes wouldn't (necessarily) have worked. It would have reduced the risk, but it wouldn't by any stretch of the imagination have eliminated it, or even come close to eliminating it.
That research took me 5 minutes or less. If I was a reporter, and I wasn't sure of those facts, but needed to confirm them (which I don't for the purposes of this post), I guess more or less any doctor could either confirm them, or set me straight.
Further, if I was a reporter, and not just some gumby who works for stuff.co.nz, I might be inclined to actually put that sort of information in my story, and possibly provide some answers to the unasked questions (like: would dosing all the passengers wiith Tamiflu have worked? Would quarantine have worked, or would that have been an over-reaction?). Y'know, things that are actually useful, accurate and informative.
And I'm also wondering if the random who was quoted at length would have been quite so keen on the quarantine course of action, given that he was a passenger on that plane....
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The entertainment section of Stuff, under the byline of Bang! Showbiz*, always manages to outdo the rest of the paper in crappiness. Here's their take: OMG, has Pete Doherty caught swine flu!
*notable among other things for using (sic) a lot even though they clearly don't know what it means.
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Symptoms of swine flu include looking pale, weak and delirious and having a runny nose.
Well, he must have it then. Because those are clearly Swine Flu symptoms, and definitely not the symptoms of being a talentless crackhead.
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giovanni - a Boccaccio chance mayhap?
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It's funny you should say that - I keep the Decameron on the nightstand these days and I really don't think there is any better read in this world of ours at that particular time of the day and even in micro-bursts of a page or two. It's like a dirty lullaby, and oh, the joy of the language! Sometimes I feel like sharing it and perhaps you could point me to a translation of choice?
(It'd be kind of appropriate too if we all get told not to leave out houses on account of the plague.)
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I'm pretty sure that my copy of "The Decameron" is the Penguin Classics translation. I really would lurch upstairs right now and check who the translator is (these people are *hugely* important! Nah, I'm not pissing in your pocket) but there's lightning out there-
Montaigne? For nightstand reading?
I love him too-
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My Oxford World's Classics edition (1993) was translated by Guido Waldman. I enjoyed it very much, but haven't read any other translations to compare.
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Oops, that's a translated edition of Boccaccio, not Montaigne.
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Resonancy Boy - keep 'em coming- o please!
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Wont even comment on douchebag (it's the rare woman who doesnt known the meaning-)
having sent a fragile (but lightningproof) infant* upstairs, I can confirm
that it is the Penguin Classics version of Boccaccio, trans. G. H. McWilliam. My Montaigne, "Complete Essays" is trans. M. A. Screech-*technically (nextdoor's infants are all under 14-)
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Latest news. First confirmed swine flu death outside Mexico (20 month old in Texas) and they think they have found patient zero.
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